Film School: Kevin Connolly of ‘Entourage’ on the Art of Cell Phone Acting

“I’ve always said besides Kiefer Sutherland, I talked on a cell phone more than any other actor on a TV show,” says Kevin Connolly. He’s referring to his role as Eric on “Entourage,” a series whose characters’ cell usage rises to suburban high schooler levels.

Speakeasy has always wondered: when an actor does a phone scene, is there someone on the other end of the line? “You’re talking to a stand-in or a person on the crew,” Connolly says. “They read the lines back. Jenna, who is Kevin Dillon’s stand-in and has been there since season one, reads lines with me.”

Occasionally, Connolly says, he’s done phone duties for other actors. “A few times Jeremy [Piven] has called me and said, ‘Hey, do you mind being on the other end of this call? This is kind of a big one.’ It’s funny because you sit at home with your cordless, watching TV while you’re waiting for the crew guys to do the lights and this and that. You’re like, ‘Okay, are you ready?’”

The series has gotten more cell-reliant this season as the entourage begins to disband and the characters establish their own lives. “When the show first started, HBO always wanted us together,” says Connolly. “It used to be all of us, in every scene, fifteen hours a day. It was insane.” As the characters drift apart, he says, “The only way to keep everyone looped in is the phone thing. This season I probably worked with Jeremy four or five days, total. But we talk on the phone.”

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